Link Just Wanted a Review
by iheartLink
Summary: We've all put him through great adventures. So what's our hero left to do? Simply write a fanfiction and post it! But he gets no reviews. Slight Zelink. PG for manic, obsessive, uncontrollable behavior! Just kidding...
1. Dawn of the First Day 2 AM

**Oh hi! This is my little, short story. In fact, it's not really much of a story, but I guess I would say it's more of a reminder of things we should keep in mind during those times that we hate- when no one reviews. Some of these things (I will warn you) that Link does is kind of exagerrated, but it's something we are guilty of doing at least to some degree. Even I am guilty...**

**Oh yeah...um and...unfortunately, I don't own Zelda, but quite frequently, I check my email for reviews! Err...I mean...I wished I...owned Link...**

Dawn Of The First Day. 2 A.M.

Link was typing his last sentence, his fingers shaking due to staying up past midnight again. How could he do such a thing, you ask? Writing, like many other hobbies people claim to have, is an addiction for him. Once he starts, he can't stop. As of now...

One last click, and he was done. He was ready to submitt it. It was his first fanfiction. He's never posted anything like this in his life.

Hurrying to type in his log-in information on , he punched Enter, but there was an error. "Ugh," he said as he re-typed.

There was still an error. Letting out an irritated grunt, he punched his fingers, one at a time, into the keyboard. Finally, a relieving moment. It worked.

His pen name was Hylian Hero. Okay, so Link wasn't that original, but he wanted to be known. His story would be the big key to his success. (He just knew it.)

As soon as he figured out how to post his story, he went to sleep, or he tried to... Tossing and turning he did. He could not stop thinking about his future success. Just him and one hundred reviews...or more... The possiblity of what the reviews might say fueled his mind, an energy that kept him awake.

That's it. He had to check his email.

Scurrying to his desk and punching in his email log-in information, his heart raced in anticipation. He waited for it like no other. Just one email...just one email. He usually didn't check his email often so he couldn't tell if he got a notification or not. This struck his heart more with hope and more anxiety.

He even closed his eyes for a minute...until he saw that nothing was there. No email awaiting him. No wondrous review. Just a bunch of other unimportant emails. He looked and looked but found...nothing.

Link took a exagerrated sigh and retreated to his bed.

_One minute later..._

His fingers were crossed. He knew it would happen. He knew, he just knew someone would review by now!

No unread messages.

Link made a noise of frustration and reluctantly went back to his bed.

_Three minutes later..._

Link stared into the darkness, thinking about checking again.

That was the only thing on his mind right now.

As his eyes were about to close on him, he awakened. With the energy he had left to spare, he sat up, poking his foot off the edge of the bed. _No, wait until tomorrow._

He hoped, he just hoped by tomorrow morning, he'd get a review.

**Oh yeah, and this is set in modern times! Kind of forgot to say that. Oops...**

**Updates, I believe, will be fairly quick on this story since I basically already have it done. Just editing to do, and that is all. So, stay tuned! **


	2. Dawn of the Second Day

**Sorry guys for the delay! I've been trying to juggle school, a social life, numerous one-shots, and this all at once! But don't worry. I'll make time for this story :) **

**By the way, thank you all for the reviews! I didn't expect this story to get too much attention, but I guess it's always the stories you least expect to get the attention. And since you all have been so nice, I will reply to you all publicly! (You can either reply back through a PM or a review. Either way is fine.) **

**Colleen - TJ: Yay for accurateness! Glad it was! **

**MeLoveMamimi: Interesting pen name! I like it! And yes, poor Link... No review for him :3 **

**Hyliaelvulcanish Bard of Death and thisplaceilove (Guest): Thank you! **

**Zelda rules : Yes...Zelda does rule... Anywayz, I'll review your story! Just lemme know when it comes out! And yes, Link likes your review very much. He's just jealous the review wasn't on his story :p **

**JavaUpdate: Hehe...right? Thank you for your review! It made me smile. **

**(Well, all your reviews did) **

**And one more thing to add...whenever I saw your reviews in my email, I love how it said, "[New Review] for Link Just Wanted a Review." It made me giggle :) **

Dawn of the Second Day

By the time sunlight poured through his window, Link could barely open his eyes. The heaviness of his eyelids drew him back to sleep. That was until his alarm clock reminded him of the dreadful fact that he had to go to work.

Ugh.

Rolling towards the edge of the bed, he tried not to fall off, which didn't work out so well...

"Ow..." When he finally stood up off the floor, he had to pop his back, not forgetting his obligation to check his email.

Although he sped like Speedy Gonzalez to get ready for work, it already become 7:40.

Shit.

He had twenty minutes.

Click, click, click, click, click. It was times like these when he wanted to scream at his computer and ask what its problem was. Yes, he did speak to his computer at times...

New messages! Not from Fanfiction.

He sighed. _Hopefully later._

He was just lucky he lived close to his work.

. . .

Best Buy - the perfect place to direct people to the latest games. Being an employee who worked in the media department was what Link loved. Working the same department as Mido, however, was what Link could do without.

"Hey, 'No Fairy,' what do you think of this new game?"

Link rolled his eyes. This was how it started every morning. Imitating the Mido in Ocarina of Time, Mido would call Link 'No Fairy.' It seemed like a mere coincidence that they had identical names and personalities as the characters in the game. Link, as you can see, was not very fond of this coincidence.

Seeing that the new game in Mido's hand was Skyward Sword, Link said, "I don't know. What do you think of it?"

"I think it's the best game there is. Great graphics, great gameplay, great characters... Except for Link. I don't know why they call that stupid hero that. What a retarded name."

_I could say the same about yours_, Link thought.

Despite his heightened anxiety about his fanfiction, Link preferred worrying about that over Mido. Mido gave him enough anxiety during his years of highschool, lurking around like a predator, scheming his next wedgie. Link had had enough.

"Why don't you go over there and contemplate those ideas to yourself and not me, okay? 'Cause I really don't wanna hear it today."

Despite Link's command, an obnoxious grin formed on Mido's freckly face.

"Hear what? That boss likes me better than you? One day, I'm going to be boss, and there's nothing you can do about it." Mido pointed to himself, his ego and pride seriously growing inside his head.

"But right now, you're an employee, so go back to your station."

"But you're not the boss of _me_, are you?" Mido asked daringly.

Sad to say, Link would much rather have Mido be his boss than his actual one. Mr. Dragmire seemed to worship devious people like Mido and despise angelic people like Link. If something went wrong, it was always Link's fault. And if Link didn't know any better, he'd say that Mido and Mr. Dragmire were partners in crime. In the literal sense.

Speaking of the devil...

"What's going on here?"

Link turned to who he recognized as none other than Ganondorf Dragmire himself.

"Link, why haven't you been preparing like I had asked you? You're supposed to be filling the stalls with toilet paper," he immediately accused, something Link had already been expecting.

"You never asked me, sir."

"Well, I'm asking you now. Now, get to work."

As Link obeyed, he turned back briefly to watch Mido get praised as always.

"Great job, Mido. I can see you're already figuring out how to increase our sales today," Ganondorf said, indicating Skyward Sword, which was rising in popularity on its own, not from the idiot stealing its spotlight. Either way, Link knew he could be a lot better salesman.

"Something _Link _needs to learn," Ganondorf added. As he said his name, Ganondorf glanced back at him, his eyes portraying a sense of hatred and superiority.

For a split second, using the 'Triforce of Courage,' Link glared back, the other half of that second he couldn't afford to lose. Unless he wanted to lose his job.

Once Mr. Dragmire was out of earshot, Mido remarked, "Yeah, Link, but first make sure not to step in toilet paper!"

Sucking it up, Link dragged himself away from the snickering. Back to being a janitor again.

This was going to be a long day.

. . .

The instant Link got home, he pulled up the Fanfiction website. Logging in, of course, continued to be troublesome. Damn secure code.

When he got to his profile page, he was nervous. To ease his nerves, he checked his messages. No unread messages from Zelda.

She went by the username, Hyrulian Princess online, but he knew who she really was. They had been friends for practically seven years now. But since her phone got disconnected three months and a day ago (Yes, Link counted), they had to chat anonymously. He knew, deep inside, that he had always liked her. He just never admitted it to himself or to her. He made himself believe he was better off in the friend zone, where he usually wound up anyway. The generic excuse: he didn't want to ruin the friendship.

He hated that he hardly got to see her because of so many obstacles: his work schedule, her dad, their distant locations... It sucked.

And so did his nervousness, which still nagged at him. The suspense was killing him. He held in his breath as he clicked on his story. His eyes darted across the screen, like a cat searching for its prey. He wanted to see a review. He looked for a review so much, he expected it. He expected it to be there. It took him a while before he came across the review pages. No reviews were posted on his story. That was hardcore, ego-sucking truth.

Minutes raced by like seconds, and they soon became spent, never to be spent again. The time amazed him when checked it. 11:00 P.M. At that exact time, he heard his cell phone buzzing. He went to pick it up. His friend, Saria.

He felt grateful, but he also wanted to ignore it. He couldn't ignore her calls, though. If there was anyone who comforted him second best, it was Saria. She was like a mother to him.

"Link! I'm so glad I got a hold of you! It stinks that we hardly to get to see each other at work!" She says this every time they're together. Not in that way, of course.

But if Link weren't so blind, he'd see that Saria wanted to be...in that way.

"Yeah, definitely," Link agreed. "If you didn't work so far away...we'd be able to."

She worked in the home appliances department. She had the strangest obssession with refrigerators. Link believed this to be because they stored all her foods she'd food. A chef, she practically had a wall full of home-made recipes. Link never understood it. Too bad her obvious crush on Link was conveniently mistaken for her unconditional love. Poor Saria and her motherly habits...

"I know, but you know how I am about refrigerators. When I'm around them, I feel like I'm at home."

He could hear the soothing comfort in her voice.

"So, you don't feel at home around me?" he teased.

"Of course I do," she said thoughtfully. "But you know that video games don't interest me. But I hate that Mido picks on you all the time. The manager should have him fired."

"I know. It's okay, though. It's just the way it is. There's nothing I can do. The manager's on his side, anyway," he said, dimissing it like always. He hated having people worry about him, Saria especially. And then there was Zelda...a topic that fate brought them to discuss.

**...and sorry for leaving you with an evil cliffhanger ;)**


	3. Dusk of the Second Day

**My, my. This has been way too long since I've posted. Deepest apologies. My writing brain seemed to quit working for this story for quite a while. I think it's fixed for now, though.**

**Thank you for all your reviews! 3**

Dusk of the Second Day

After another pause, when the time felt right, Saria asked, "So...how's Zelda been?" She never liked asking, but she knew this was the topic Link couldn't escape from.

It had surprised Link, this being the first time in a while they talked about Zelda. As he quite frequently did when mentioning her, Link stammered, "Sh-she's fine. Haven't talked to her in a while, but she's been fine."

"What was the last thing she said to you?"

"She kept saying I'm sorry. That we couldn't see each other often anymore, that her dad wouldn't allow it."

"Her dad still hates you?"

"Yeah," Link sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"It's not yours either, Link. You have every right to be with her. He shouldn't prevent that."

"I know," Link said, basking in the silence, more darkness swept over him.

"I wish things didn't have to come between you two… It's not right."

"Saria- we're not together. We're just…" _Friends. _How he despised that word…

"I know, but…you could make a move if you wanted to…" Oh, Saria, how she encouraged him to always do his best.

"I wish," he paused. "Look, I have to go. Have to get up early for work. So, good night."

"Think about it though, Link. You're the best person I know, and I don't see how Zelda wouldn't give you a chance. You've been friends with her forever, and you've liked her for so long. It's about time you told her Link. She's still single. You don't know how long that'll be. Could be months, could be years, could be a day. You never know. That's why it's so important to put yourself out there and see what happens."

Though the conversation had ended and the phone shut off, Link could still imagine her voice trailing on. It was the same old tune, Saria's "You can capture Zelda" speech. He'd heard it all before, and instead of encouragement, it always left him feeling depressed. Calming down was not an achievable option at this point.

Perhaps, receiving a review would help.

But gee golly whiz, did he really want to be disappointed if he still lacked reviews?

He hid his head beneath his pillow, squeezing it tight like a helmet. He was scared to check it, but he knew he had no choice. It was as if a magnetic force compelled him to open his email.

The internet wasn't working. He clicked the refresh button several times. Eventually, he had to restart his computer. He waited for it to turn back on. He waited for it to fully boot up. And waited for the internet to load.

Once he was on there, he typed in his password and username to his email account, clicked on the little inbox button, and closed his eyes, imagining a nice vacation on the beach. Opening his eyes, it became a disaster. Crabs biting his toes, sand castles ruined, forgetting sun lotion and being burnt to a crisp, and stinking seaweed everywhere… Darn it, the internet was coming back from vacation too, and it didn't bring a review as a souvenir.

Was anybody ever going to review? And if not, how on Earth would he make them?

. . .

Next day, something amazing happened. Not anything like a review but a miracle! After all these weeks, Zelda had finally replied to him!

_Don't you ever stop working? Don't you need a break? I think school is tough enough! I already have had five tests and three essays. I could only imagine how it will be in the fall. But hopefully, we'll have time to hang out soon and catch up on each other's lives. But until then, we'll have to catch up on here. So, what's been going on with you? Anything exciting?_

The word struck him like a lightning bolt. _Exciting._ Posting his first fanfiction was exciting. He felt elated by this opportunity to tell her about it, but he realized he also had another opportunity to tell her something else.

Redness rose in Link's cheeks, palms got all sweaty, his heart thumped as loud as a jackhammer. Remembering Saria's encouragement speech word for word caused him to type fast, perfecting errors as needed. This was now or never.

_I know it's been a long time since we were friends, and I know this might be weird to say, Zelda…I like you. I mean, I really like you. No, I mean I…love you. I always have. I'm hoping we could be more._

Man…even through the internet, he sounded pathetic.

_Zelda…I like you. Would you…go out sometime?_

Even his simple, get-to-the-point message sounded stupid.

"Lemme just stick to telling her about my fanfiction." It was too bad he felt the need to revise that message about it over and over. He spent way too much time being careful with what he says to Zelda. Impressing her was still an inevitable instinct.

Now he'd have to wait and wait and wait until Zelda would reply again. Zelda had such a busy life as it was, she hardly had time for him. There were rare occasions when school didn't preoccupy her time. She had gotten accepted to one of the best universities. Link guessed Zelda studying her butt off in private school must have paid off.

Link felt so lame compared to her.

Since he was thirteen, he had worked to where he was now, and he still didn't have enough money to go anywhere with his life. He was poor, the main reason Zelda's father despised him.

Zelda, on the other hand, was so well off, she never needed a job. Her father was Hyrule's governor, making Zelda a public icon. She was simply following in his footsteps, enjoying her life as a celebrity.

Link still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that she had this extravagant life yet she had written more fanfictions than him and had gotten unthinkable amounts of reviews on them. To him, she was Wonder Woman.

While she continued to make her dad proud all the while being popular on the Fanfic website, Link continued to shame his grandma, and she dead.

No reviews. None at all. Staring at the vacant screen, Link just couldn't take anymore. Something had to be done.

He went to the search engine, he needed results. Fast! He needed something he knew he could rely on. Ah, there it was, eHow- How To Get People To Review Your Story. The headline he needed to read…


	4. Dawn of the Fourth Day- Only Chance

**Teehee! Before I posted the third chapter last time, my boyfriend was editing it, and also reading it aloud in funny voices, so thank him for some of the funny parts in last chapter, especially, "Link continued to shame his grandma, and she dead." I'll remember that one :) And I also remember to reply to your reviews! Sorry I didn't do that last time, I was in a rush, but I updated early this time!**

**Replies-**

**Ingenuous-Amethyst: Thanks! And because Link's poor, and Zelda's dad is a snob. I may or may not go into more detail about it since it's not too significant to the story, so if you want to know more, and by the end of the story, I don't include it, message me.**

**UltimateOtakuGirl100:** **Technically :p Thanks for your review!**

**Ashlee S: Hehe, aww you made Link so happy! He appreciates it very much :) And yeah, Mido is very dumb, and he does walk very strangely, probably one of the 'excuses' he has to make fun of Link. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Zelda rules: Well, I look forward to reading it soon. :) Thanks for reading and reviewing! **

Dawn of the Fourth Day- Only Chance

"Hey, listen! Hey, listen! Hey, listen! Hey, listen! Hey, listen!"

_Smack! _Link's hand said to the snooze button.

"Shut up, Navi." Yes, that was the name of his alarm clock. No, that did not mean he liked it. He just needed something to get him up in the morning. Especially right now since he had to go to work…again instead of implementing the advice eHow gave him.

Throughout the hustle of his every morning routine, his mind was playing a game of ping pong- Link couldn't stop the battle between his pessimistic self and his optimistic self. His thoughts were jumping all over the place.

_What if nothing changes? What if I'm doing this all for nothing? What if I'm wasting my time?_

_But what if I'm not?_

_How was joining fanfic forums going to win my ticket to popularity?_

_Will I be able to catch all the grammar mistakes?_

_Is my story even good?_

"Hi, can you please help us find _The Terminator_?" Before he knew it, Link was well into his work day, customers already demanding answers.

Link cocked his head back, looking insanely at the couple in front of his desk as if they were ninjas. "I'm sorry. What was that?"

"Can you please help us find the movie- you know what a movie is, don't you? - _The Terminator,_" the woman spat out. She looked like your typical pissy customer, more obnoxious than Kaepora Gaebora. Link could sense her impatience, which brought him up to speed on his search for that damned movie.

"Here you are. Last movie on the rack," Link announced, smiling...then back to frowning the moment she waltzed away. Hopefully to the checkout line, so she'd get as far away from him as possible. He didn't need her snobby attitude. Link wondered how long he was staring blankly at her, zoned into his own little world, before he noticed her fat face.

. . .

Back at home, Link was overwhelmed when going through his list of necessary improvements to his story. Some of the advice made sense, some of it just seemed like it'd be a waste of time. He needed a breather.

First, he started with the grammar in his story. Editing his story in Doc Manager was a pain. He couldn't see any gramatical errors. Not one single error. _What the heck?_ _What else could be terribly wrong with his story?_

The summary, okay. But there was nothing wrong with his summary!

Nothing wrong with his Author Notes, or was there? Perhaps he was too excited about his story, or he admitted that it was his first fanfiction ever and that meant he was an amateur. Maybe he should delete the whole thing...

The title, too, needed changing. 'Hero' to 'The Hero' _Would that simple change really draw in the fans?_

Maybe there was something else he could do. The internet was full of forums and eHow said they were critical to success. Now, to find the right one.

_Link and Zelda pairing forum? _Link blushed.

He scanned through some more until more interesting ones popped up.

_Zelda role-play. _"Okay, wait that's not the point..."

_Zelda Ocarina of Time fans. "_Better."

_Zelda famous one-shots that need to be submitted. _"Bingo!"

Click, click. Link read what he had to read twice.

So...he had to email someone the information about his fanfic to disapprove or approve of it? Easy as pie! Right away, he composed a new message to send to the administrator of the forum's email, and then...he sent it. And waited all night for a reply. By 9:05, he realized this forum was from 2002, and had been dead for years...

By the time it turned ten, Link picked up his phone again to go through the same, dreadful process of explaining to Saria why he had no chance with Zelda.


	5. Game Over

**Updated even earlier this time! :)**

**Ingenuous-Amethyst: Haha, yeah it is, very true. **

**Thank you all for reading and reviewing!**

Game Over

Link had lost all hope. An entire week has gone by now, and no one on this stinking Earth cared about his story, which he was starting to think wasn't all that great anymore. He went through the reasons of why that would be.

The title, even after renaming it, was it enough? And the summary, it was dreadfully boring, too brief and not nearly appealing enough. His introduction just had to be too long, he desperately needed to hack half of it away, but how, and which parts? His author's notes were stupid, he was better than that. Maybe he needed to be on more forums, it was stupid how you had to join a silly online conversation just to get noticed. At least his grammar was good.

Maybe he was just a loser. A horrible writer with sloppy ideas. Or maybe he was the good person, it's just everyone else is lazy. People are lazy, he sees it every day. People like Mido.

There was a myriad of reasons running through his mind, but the worse thought ever was that he wasted his time and efforts to satisfy his greatest desire- to get a review, and he hadn't even gotten one.

With his hand in cheek and body slumped in his chair, he played out his story in his mind:

_With no time to lose, he ran to the castle, his mind racing faster than himself. As he became out of breath, he spied on the guards he remembered sneaking past to get to the courtyard the first time. This would be a cinch. _

_Arriving at the courtyard where he found Zelda facing a window as expected felt surreal (and relieving at the same time). She instantly turned around._

_"Link?"_

_"Zelda..." Link stepped closer as they locked eyes._

_"You...made...it. I-I didn't think you'd come."_

_"Of course, I'd come. I couldn't wait to see you."_

Link always hopelessly imagined himself as the Link in his story- brave, straight forward, confident. Was he that afraid to tell Zelda? It wasn't that hard for the Link in his story to admitt his own feelings for his Zelda. But the Zelda in real life, Link's actual best friend, he had trouble spilling it out. The fear stemmed from the possibility of rejection.

Though, he could forever keep it a secret, dooming himself to the friend zone. That would kill him. It would kill him, telling her or not telling her. Knowing and not knowing what her reaction would be would drive him equally insane.

He turned on his computer. Then, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click.

After what seemed like a millennium, Link made it to his published story. There, in fact, was a review.

Hyrulian Princess.

Zelda had been the reviewer.

_So, this is the story you told me about. It's a very heartwarming story :) Will this be continued?_

He couldn't believe it. The least he'd expect was for Zelda to review, let alone message him.

Zelda: _Oh, how very exciting! I'll be your first reviewer :) I hope everything is well for you. And I hope that we get to see each other soon._

He smiled as he replied.

Link: _Yes, very. I didn't think you'd review, but I'm glad you did. Appreciate it. And hope we get to see each other, too. I have a lot of things to tell you._

Maybe it wouldn't be damnation and eternity in the friend zone.

**And that's it, you guys! Story's over. I'll probably be posting Link's actual fanfic soon as a separate oneshot. And ****it's also time to work on the second and third short stories I have in mind! First chapters will be coming out very very soon. Follow me if you'd like to be notified when it is posted.**


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